Demolition begins on Boysen building in village of Martin

MARTIN, MI -- Demolition began Tuesday, June 3, on what was once a bustling grocery store in the middle of downtown Martin.

Private donations paid for the most of the cost of tearing down the former Boysen's Grocery, said Don Flower, village trustee.

The building at 1597 10th/Main St. was up for sale for years, Flower said.

Once a grocery operated by the Boysen family, the building was later the site of other grocery operations that did not succeed, he said.

After several years of deterioration, the building was donated to Martin Public Schools, which hoped to tear it down and build a community center at the site.

But when voters last year rejected a millage proposal to fund that project, a group of local business and farm owners got together to raise money to have the eyesore demolished, Flower said. The school donated the building to the village to facilitate that.

The group raised close to $50,000, Flower said; the village will make up any difference between the cost of demolition and the private funds raised, with hopes of recouping money on the eventual sale of the lot.